Recruitment
by Dragon'sHost
Summary: Gajeel, Levy, and Pantherlily go to visit a certain Council Mage about joining up.


**This was written as a Valentine's Day gift for holdontothatfeelin on Tumblr! A little late, but Happy Valentine's Day! And I'm sorry this didn't turn out very shippy.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.**

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Mest blinked, dumbfounded. Frozen in shock at the pair standing in front of his desk, he wondered if he was losing his mind. Aftereffects of the memory-wipe being undone, maybe. Yeah. That would explain why these two people… or rather, two people and a cat, were there in his office, demanding what they were. "You want to… what?"

The tallest of the three pulled his lips back in a sneer, crossing his studded arms over his chest. "Don't pretend you can't understand what I'm saying, jerkwad. Clean the wax out of your ears, and bring in the paperwork. We're joining the Council."

"Gajeel, you shouldn't insult someone you're asking a favor of!" the small, blue-haired woman hissed at the iron dragon slayer that stood beside her.

Nodding, the black cat input, "Levy has a point."

"Et-tu, Lily?"

Clearing his throat, Mest waited for their attention to return to him. Once he had it, he continued, "I'm sorry; you just surprised me is all. I assumed that – Yajima aside – the _last_ thing a Fairy Tail mage would want to do is join the Magic Council. Let alone _three_ at once. Can I ask why?"

Gajeel bristled. "What, are you trying to say I'm not civilized enough to do your shitty job?!"

"Gajeel!" Levy and Pantherlily chorused.

"When did I say that?!" Mest retorted. "Also, this job isn't as easy as it looks!" With a groan, he held his head in his hands. "Just answer my question, would you?"

Silence fell over the room. Perplexed by the lack of insults, Mest raised his head. Gajeel was staring at him, with the strangest expression Mest had ever seen on his face.

After a long moment, Gajeel said, "I want to do right by the old woman."

Levy glanced down at her feet, biting her lip, while Lily also refused to meet Mest's gaze.

Mest peered at the trio, gauging the situation at hand. Mostly, he saw Gajeel's earnestness, his nervousness, how close Levy stood to the much larger man, with Lily now staring back at the Council Mage once more. Levy in particular was of interest to Mest. From the memories he'd regained, he recalled her as a much more lively person, with a smile and a book always in hand. She was just as nervous as Gajeel, but… there was a determination in her that shone through.

"Well… I guess it'll be fine."

Jolting in surprise at Mest's ready acceptance, their jaws all dropped.

The Council Mage shrugged. "Since Fairy Tail's been dissolved, there's no question of guild loyalty."

"Hey!" growled the dragon slayer. "Don't you dare –"

"Calm down," Mest ordered. "It is what it is. It's not as if I'm happy about it, either."

"Tch, I bet you were celebrating – "

"Okay, you see that right there? That's going to be a problem." Mest sighed. "You're going to have to be able to take orders, and not talk back to your superior officers. And by superior, I mean higher ranking." His eyes narrowed at the belligerent man. "Superiority of strength means nothing."

Gajeel opened his mouth to protest some more, until Levy gave him a sharp elbow to the side. She smiled back at Mest as Gajeel yelped. "We'll keep that in mind! Is there anything else, Doranbolt?"

A strangled sound arose from the Council Mage's throat. "When it's just us four… Mest is fine." It just sounded wrong to hear his spy name coming from the mouth of an old friend – even if she didn't remember him. "So… there will be a lot of paperwork you'll need to fill out, and some general fitness and magical tests… I'm not overly concerned about those, though. As for placement… since you'll be entering with my recommendation, you'll probably be assigned to the Intelligence division."

He glanced over the ragtag group. "You'll have to memorize the protocols and such. I'm not worried about Lily, since you're a former military man. You should have no problem adjusting to this."

The cat nodded. "It'll be a nice refresher. I must admit that I'm excited to return to this way of life."

Mest smiled. "I'm sure. Levy will likely do well in this division, with that brain of hers." Levy flushed deeply, but didn't say anything. "I'm concerned about Gajeel though…"

"Hey! It sounds like you're calling me a brainless muscle-head!"

"I never said that," Mest pointed out.

"You heavily implied it!"

"Moving on… brains will get you far in this division. Much more so than brawn or pure magical strength. Work hard, Levy, and you'll probably surpass the other two pretty quickly. Especially Gajeel."

"Now I _know_ you're making fun of me!" Gajeel shouted. "Get over here and I'll show you what pure brawn can do to your smug face!"

"Gajeel!" Levy squeaked, grabbing a hold of the dragon slayer's midsection. "Not now!"

Mest snorted. "Don't worry, you'll only have to deal with me for about a month. I'm planning on quitting the Council, actually, so you came at a good time."

They paused, and stared at Mest curiously. It was Levy who broke the silence first. "Is… there a reason why you're quitting, Mest?"

He scratched his head, and glanced away. "I suppose you could say that it just feels… very empty here, now." Sometimes, when he closed his eyes, he could still see falling rubble, ringing in his ears, the weight of a dead friend in his arms. This place was no longer home. Never had been, really, but that was beside the point. There wasn't anything here for him, any more. In fact, he'd only stayed this long in order to help with the reconstruction and reordering efforts.

With a shake of his head, he turned back to the others. "At any rate, registration is done at the main office on the other side of the building. They'll give you a bunch of basic forms to fill out; on the section for recommendations, put down my name. Then they'll shuffle you off for test scheduling – after which they'll assign you barracks quarters." Mest grinned suddenly at them. "I have to forewarn you that they separate the barracks by gender so…"

This time, it wasn't Gajeel that protested. "Mest!" Levy cried, her face red. "It's not like that!"

"Oh, really? My mistake!" Mest laughed. Then he leaned forward, and pointed his thumb in the direction of the two humans, mouthing to Pantherlily, "Really?"

The cat nodded solemnly, and then shrugged helplessly.

"We're right here, you know!" Gajeel yelled. "I can see what you're doing! You're making fun of us again!"

"At any rate, you should get moving. I think the office is about to close for the day," Mest deflected. With a squawk, the three bolted for the door. "Oh… wait. Gajeel. Before I forget."

Pausing at the threshold, they glanced back at Mest. "What?" Gajeel growled. "This had better be good."

"I only met her a couple of times but… I think Belno would be proud of you," Mest informed him.

Gajeel's face had acquired that strange expression once more. "…What? How did you…"

"Wouldn't be much of an Intelligence Division officer if I didn't know at least _that_ much." Mest smiled, and then glanced at the clock. "Better hurry. You've got fifteen minutes."

Once they had vacated his office, Mest let out a massive sigh. "I'm already regretting this," he muttered, pulling out blank paper and pens.

It was time to write some recommendation letters.


End file.
